Professional musician – live music for weddings and events

Post navigation

New song requests

17th June 2019
Blog – Special Requests and thoughts on learning songs

People often comment on how many songs there are to choose from my repertoire… I think at the last count it was around 400! The main question I get asked is “how do you remember so many songs?!” Well… I do have a knack of remembering songs – I’m lucky that they just kind of stick in my head. If only learning information for exams at school and University was so easy! In fact, I often think now that if I’d memorised information for exams in the form of songs, I’d probably have found revising much easier!

However, I must confess, I do also have an iPad with all my song lyrics on. So in the event that my mind does go blank, I have a backup. What did we do before technology eh? In my case, probably mumble through the song and make up some words that sounded somewhere near right – ha ha!

Singing Jo & Lee’s special request “Rule The World” by Take That – with the help of the hen party on backing vocals! Photo courtesy of River Lane Photography

Special requests for weddings

I always encourage special requests. I know some bands/musicians have a set repertoire, but I like to always keep things fresh rather than playing the same songs at every event. It helps keep me sharp, and plus – learning new songs is good fun!

It does take a little while to learn a new song though. It can depend on many factors… if it’s a song I know, but haven’t ever played, and the chords aren’t too challenging – then I can probably learn it in an hour or two. However if it’s a song I haven’t heard before it can take a lot longer… add in some jazzy new chords that I’ve never used before and it can take a good couple of days to master a song.

If it’s a brand new song to me, I’ll listen to it a few times, then start working out how to play it on guitar. I’ll have a little go at learning it, then leave it for a few hours or overnight. This gets the song into my head, then when I come back to it, hopefully it’s sitting there somewhere in my memory bank, then it’s a case of repeating and practicing until perfect!

Playing at the Great Tythe Barn, Tetbury. Thanks to Martin Dabek Photography for the image.

So, as you could probably imagine, it can take up a fair bit of time. I usually ask for 3-5 requests for weddings max (depending on how long I’m booked for). With 12 weddings this June, you can probably get an idea of how much time I spend learning and perfecting new songs. I love it though – I’m pretty sure there’s much worse jobs to have!

Some recent special requests…

Here’s an example of some songs I’ve learnt recently – this will give you an idea of how diverse the requests can be!

“A Million Dreams” from the Greatest Showman

Coldplay & Chainsmokers – Something Just Like This

Adele – Skyfall

Bon Jovi – Thank You For Loving Me

Calum Scott – You Are The Reason

Lionel Richie – My Destiny

Fleetwood Mac – Everywhere

Heartland – I Loved Her First

Lucky Jim – Lovely To Me

Something In The Water – Brooke Fraser

Take That – Rule The World

Lonestar – Amazed

Billy Joel – Just The Way You Are

Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World

Katrina & The Waves – Walking on Sunshine

Biffy Clyro – Mountains

The Gaslight Anthem – Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts

Jack Johnson – Upside Down

Bryan Adams – I Think About You

If you’ve already booked me to play at your wedding, you can use the online song choices form here to submit your requests. I need at least a month’s notice for any special requests, so that I have plenty of time to learn them.

And with that, it’s time to add all these new tracks to the repertoire! Bye for now…

Written by Pat McIntyre – singer & acoustic guitarist for weddings and other events based in Bristol, UK.